My 17 years old has migraine and anxiety i took her to acupuncture and the acupuncturist gave her
Xiao-chai-hu-tang for her anxiety and si ni san wan for cold hand and overall health but i read online it’s for liver detox use ! What do you Recommend?
Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.
I would recommend that you trust the recommendations of the practitioner that is familiar with your daughter. The Chinese herbal formulas are never for “a condition” they are technically for a diagnostic pattern in Chinese Medicine terms. So looking at our website you will see that xiao chai hu tang is technically for “regulating and harmonizing the liver and spleen systems” - which (incidentally) only marginally if at all for some patients will have any real correlation with the organs of the same name - see “My Liver is What?” and “My Spleen is What?” for more on that.
Then si ni wan is also for “harmonizing and regulating the liver and spleen” - again liver and spleen “systems” in Chinese Medicine, -not- the “organs” in Western Medicine terms. Although, yes, xiao chai hu tang particularly can be used for a range of physical liver issues - but also for an entire range of conditions not at all related to the organ.
For the basics of how your practitioner might go about coming up with their diagnosis and then their herbal treatment, I recommend our articles “Treating the cause vs. the symptoms” and “how to choose an herbal formula”
Chinese herbal medicine is complicated even for practitioners and for laypeople with no understanding of the underlying diagnostic procedures and terminology in Chinese Medicine it is completely confusing. This is why you took your daughter to a trained practitioner and didn’t, thankfully, try to treat her yourself. Migraines and anxiety are very well treated with properly tailored Chinese Medicine, so she should do just fine over time.